Most other shows of that nature didn't quite have that effect though. For example, Chihayafuru, while thoroughly enjoyable, still made me realize how futile it would be for a non-native speaker to even bother trying to learn Karuta.

I started playing Mahjong online after watching Saki; it was a pain to learn but it's quite enjoyable.
Also Prince of Tenis got me playing tenis for a while, tho that didn't last much xD

And the same goes for a bunch of other stuff, at different levels. Saki is definetelly the one that got me more fired up tho. Also agree with asharka, I loved Chihayafuru and Karuta looks really fun to play, but I doubt I would ever be able to play it.

haha like I posted in my description....the amazing anime of kuroko no basket made me want to pick up basketball in which I did for a decent while. I was hoping I had super powers like them. haha and I also wanted to pick up shoji I believe it was after watching the ant arc of hunter x hunter when the king played with the little girl. It just seemed interesting to play.

Both Saki and Akagi made me want to play mahjong. I even started looking up the rules and terminology. In the end, my desire didn't push me over the edge though. Much like learning Japanese, it seemed like too much effort for too little payback. But who knows, maybe one day I will go and learn to play.

Aria also made me want to learn Esperanto, and I actually started doing so. I'm not able to hold a conversation yet, but the language is so simple that you can learn the mechanics of it pretty much overnight. I still dabble in it every now and then when I have the time, and i'm sure if I just sat down and devoted even more time to it, I could easily become fluent. But again - too much effort lol.

Food Wars is making me want to try cooking more interesting dishes. Baby Steps makes me want to try tennis, but then I remember my shoulder is busted. lol Saki got me pretty interested and obsessed with Mahjong for a while, too. The original Sailor Moon gave me an intense interest in space when I was a kid. I'm sure there are many, many more, but those are the ones off the top of my head. lol